Blooming Beautiful Bulbs

As summer comes to a close and Autumn is here, it’s time to plan ahead and start thinking about bulb planting for next year. The effort you put in now will pay dividends next spring and will be well worth the effort.

Here at St Peters, we stock a very wide range of Taylor’s bulbs and Stuart, our Centre Manager, is a real bulb enthusiast so here he is with his tips for creating a brilliant bulb display…

I think it’s important to start by thinking about which bulbs to plant to ensure that you have a continuous show of colour from February through to May. To do this, I would suggest selecting one of each of the following:

• Aconite and Snowdrops; these flower from January to March and mark the start of the new gardening year
   
• Crocus and Daffodils will flower from February to April and add vibrant colour to the garden
   
• Tulips flower from April to May; these classic-shaped flowers are an elegant addition to the garden and will put on a quite spectacular show
   
• Alliums are among the last bulbs to flower, but they really take the spring bulb season out with a bang!

This year, we are delighted to feature some new bulbs for 2022 here at St Peters, here are our top picks….

1. Double Mix Tulips - beautiful, April-flowering double flowers
    
2. Orange Marmalade Tulip - with stunning green-flamed flowers in May
    
3. Bleu Aimable Tulip - with its distinct, striking purple colour, flowers in April/May 
    
4. Kimmeridge Narcissus - fancy something unique? The Kimmeridge is exclusive to Taylors, flowers March/April

If you have been planting bulbs for a while and fancy something a bit different, look out for the Taylors 'Select' range which features some unusual flowers such as:

• Orange Monarch Crocus - selected as the only orange crocus
   
• Greenstar Tulip - selected for its star-shaped flowers
   
• Katharines Gold Iris - selected for its distinctive colour

Bulb planting can be a bit laborious but you can make the job easier with the Kent & Stowe long handled bulb planter – this great tool means that you can plant from standing with no more bending down.

Bulb planting compost - this has added grit to help keep roots dry (bulbs hate to be soggy!).

• Plant bulbs at a depth of approximately 3 times the size of the bulb
• Don’t be afraid to plant in big numbers, the more you plant, the better the display

If you’re looking for more bulb inspiration, join us for our bulb talk with Ian from Taylor’s bulbs on our website, click here for tickets.